Graffiti in London (4)

Susan Hall: How much funding have you provided for cleaning up graffiti across London since you became Mayor? Please give a breakdown by borough.

The Mayor: Responsibility for street cleansing, including graffiti, lies with the 32 London boroughs and the City of London. The enforcement powers and control measures to tackle litter and refuse are given to local authorities under the Environment Protection Act. Therefore, I do not provide funding directly for graffiti. Councils may assign a proportion of any funding they receive for street cleansing to graffiti removal, but this decision is taken at a borough level and information on the cost of removal will be held by the individual boroughs. Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2022/4304 for further information.

Graffiti in London (3)

Susan Hall: How will you ensure that London is kept clean for both visitors and Londoners?

The Mayor: Keeping our streets clean is important for London to continue being a safe and enjoyable city. The 32 London boroughs and the City of London are responsible for street cleansing, including graffiti removal. The enforcement powers and control measures to tackle litter and refuse are given to local authorities under the Environment Protection Act.
More broadly on keeping London clean, I have collaborated with Keep Britain Tidy, promoting the Big British Spring Clean. I have also supported Parks for London, awarding them funding to carry their important work reducing littering within London’s green spaces. I also worked with them to support their spring anti-littering campaign – Clean Parks for London – launched in April 2022.
My London Environment Strategy requires councils to produce Reduction and Recycling Plans (RRPs) including actions they are taking to reduce littering. Through the RRP process my officers and ReLondon are working with boroughs to set high standards and encourage continued collaboration with Keep Britain Tidy and organisations like Parks for London.

Minority groups and food insecurity

Hina Bokhari: What specific support has been given to minority groups like refugees, gypsy Roma communities and others who have been impacted by food insecurity?

The Mayor: We know that in most cases food insecurity is directly related to financial hardship. The main cause of food insecurity is insufficient household income, which means people have limited or uncertain access to adequate food. This is sadly affecting many Londoners, but we know that certain groups can be more likely to be under strain in these difficult circumstances.
For some minoritised groups, there will be specific factors pushing people into financial hardship.
That's why our approach to tackling financial hardship and food insecurity has included targeted support for groups who we know are more affected by cost-of-living increases, or who may otherwise need extra help.
As part of my approach to ensure that all Londoners are aware of their rights and how to assert them, I am investing £2.3 million this year and next in strengthening the provision of social welfare legal advice in London, and to embed this advice in the community settings and locations where people can most easily access it.
I’ve also taken steps to address some of the specific barriers faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities that drive financial hardship – particularly around housing. For example, I have ensured that funding is available through my Affordable Homes Programme to support the development of new sites for GRT communities, as well as improvements to existing sites.
I have also made it clear to boroughs in my London Plan that they should be actively planning to protect pitch and plot capacity for these communities, that they should undertake audits of existing sites, and that they should meet identified need. I have commissioned a London-wide assessment, which is currently underway, to assist with this.

Graffiti in London (1)

Susan Hall: What measures have you put in place to assist Local Authorities to clean up graffiti in London?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2022/4304.

Solar Together contractor Green Energy Together (2)

Siân Berry: Thank you for your answer to my question 2022/2589 in which you said: “A complaints procedure is overseen by iChoosr. Londoners can raise a complaint at any stage via the Solar Together website or a dedicated number.” However, despite searching both the Solar Together and iChoosr websites I can find no webpage or phone number dedicated to dealing with customer complaints. The only reference on the Solar Together website is under Terms and Conditions: “Complaints about the conclusion and/or execution of the contract between the Participant and the Installer can be reported in writing to iChoosr by the injured party. iChoosr will resolve the complaint to the best of its knowledge and may exclude the causer from participating in subsequent Collective Purchase schemes.” Could you correct this and provide me with the relevant link and phone number?

The Mayor: The Solar Together London website has a link to the Helpdesk on the top menu and footer of each page. Contact details can be found directly at Contact | Greater London (solartogether.co.uk). My team will explore with iChoosr how this can be made clearer to customers to ensure they can easily find contact details.
The Helpdesk page includes Frequently Asked Questions, a contact form and the helpdesk number which is available Monday to Friday – 08:00 to 17:00. The helpdesk number is 0800 060 8509.

Solar Together contractor Green Energy Together (3)

Siân Berry: Thank you for your answer to my question 2022/2589 in which you said: “If a resolution cannot be reached, there is an escalation procedure through recognised consumer bodies REEC and HIES.” However, the REEC is actually the Renewable Energy Consumer Code (www.recc.org.uk/) and Green Energy Together (GET-UK) is not listed as one of its members. Nor is GET-UK listed as a member of the HIES scheme. Could you therefore provide details of what consumer protection is actually available to Londoners who have contracted GET-UK to install solar panels and how to access it?

The Mayor: Under the Solar Together London programme the delivery partner iChoosr requires installers to be members of either RECC or HIES. This is to ensure customers have a clear route of escalation if an issue cannot be resolved with iChoosr's intervention.
GET UK is a member of HIES (listed as Green Energy Together Limited), which offers dispute resolution and access to an ombudsman if a complaint cannot be resolved with the support of iChoosr. There are two other installers in phase five and Dynamis is also a member of HEIS whilst Solar Bureau are members of RECC.

State of London's Health (1)

Emma Best: How many wellbeing champions have been created since 2021?

The Mayor: As outlined in MQ2022/4150, hundreds of thousands of Londoners have taken training or accessed resources that have enabled and empowered them to influence or inspire a simple change to support the mental health and wellbeing of others.
Specifically, since 2021 this includes over 100,000 Londoners who have taken the #ZeroSuicideLDN training, become Youth Mental Health First Aiders, and accessed bespoke training offers on topics like bereavement, supporting migrants and refugees, and money and mental health. Thousands of Londoners have also trained as Dementia Friends since 2021.

Thames Water Drinking Fountain (5)

Emma Best: Your water fountain scheme currently only services the Thames Water supply area. What plans do you have for widening this scheme to areas and boroughs not within this supply area?

The Mayor: It is my ambition to ensure all Londoners have access to free drinking water when on the go, to reduce single-use plastic bottle waste across the city.
In order to ensure London-wide coverage, my Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy contacted all the water companies that provide water to Londoners in addition to Thames Water. This included Essex and Suffolk Water, SES Water and Affinity Water. She has asked each water company if they would be willing work with me to provide water fountains for public use in the areas where they provide water to Greater London.
Support from these water supply companies is needed to connect to their water mains. Unfortunately, none of these companies have indicated they would implement a similar scheme.
Please also see my answer to Mayor’s Question 2022/4147.

Solar Skills London (2)

Leonie Cooper: How are you working with the Further Education sector to help tool up London with solar installation and maintenance skills?

The Mayor: I am working to deliver my Solar Action Plan and building the London solar supply chain is a crucial part of this. I am working with South Thames Colleges Group through my Solar Skills London programme, training Londoners in boot camps giving people the skills needed to join and expand the solar supply chain. These sessions will lead to apprenticeships for people in the solar sector.
This is complemented by wider work through my Solar Skills London programme and has been awarded around £130,000 This programme helps Londoners find out about the opportunities for good quality, highly-skilled green jobs in the solar sector. The Solar Skills Careers Hub offers advice on careers in solar and can help people identify what pathways there are, including Further Education courses.

Energy Advice London (2)

Leonie Cooper: How will your Energy Advice London helpline provide support to Londoners over the winter?

The Mayor: Please see my response to MQ3485.

Healthcare services in London (1)

Emma Best: A&E support is free of charge within the NHS for international visitors but not treatment after admission. Can you confirm if you would like to see treatment after admission free on the NHS for international visitors to London who are not UK residents?

The Mayor: I believe that anyone living in the UK should be able to access NHS services without having to pay a separate charge, irrespective of their immigration status.
Earlier this year, on Windrush Day, I called on Government to put an end to NHS charging regulations for migrants, regulations which impact undocumented migrants as they struggle to prove their immigration status. This policy disproportionally affects patients from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic backgrounds. Ending this policy would prevent a repeat of the situation that saw members of the Windrush generation being charged for NHS treatment.
Although I am not calling for all NHS services to be free of charge for international visitors who do not live in the UK, ensuring that anyone who does live here can access healthcare that is free at the point of need would enable all Londoners to come forward for treatment and vaccinations without fear.

Gambling in London (4)

Emma Best: What personally are you doing to tackle gambling addictions?

The Mayor: See response to question 2022/4139
Gambling addiction can have a significant impact on the lives of individuals and their families, but the evidence base on the relationship between gambling advertising and gambling harms in the out of home environment, such as on buses and trains, is limited.
As part of my commitment to bring forward plans to ban harmful gambling advertisements on the TfL network, I have commissioned the University of Sheffield and University of Glasgow to produce independent evidence briefing. This work will summarise the research evidence on the health and health inequalities impacts of gambling advertising and will be published as a journal article in the coming months.
In the meantime, I continue to work closely with London Local Authority colleagues in building the evidence base so that we can better understand gambling harms and how to address them across London, working in partnership.

Healthcare services in London (3)

Emma Best: What discussions have you had with the Government about your view that anyone living in the UK regardless of immigration status should be allowed to access the NHS for free?

The Mayor: Earlier this year, on Windrush Day, I called on Government to put an end to NHS charging regulations for migrants, regulations which impact undocumented migrants as they struggle to prove their immigration status. This policy disproportionally affects patients from Black, Asian and Minority ethnic backgrounds. Ending this policy would prevent a repeat of the situation that saw members of the Windrush generation being charged for NHS treatment.
Ensuring that anyone who lives in the UK can access healthcare that is free at the point of need would enable all Londoners to come forward for treatment and vaccinations without fear.

Healthcare services in London (2)

Emma Best: According to the London Datastore there were an estimated 21.7 million international visitors to London in 2019. If just 5% of these visitors accessed NHS care, the cost would be approximately £83,545,000 based on an average cost to the NHS of £77 per visit. Given that you have called for the NHS to offer free healthcare to anyone without proving their immigration status, can you confirm if this extends to international visitors?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2022/4141.

Thames Water Drinking Fountain (2)

Emma Best: What is the total cost for an individual water fountain to be installed?

The Mayor: Thames Water and the GLA share the costs of the fountains and their installation. The water fountains were purchased through a procurement process led by Thames Water and therefore the fountain unit costs are commercially sensitive. The cost to install an individual water fountain varies on a site-by-site basis depending on its proximity to a water main, traffic management and reinstatement requirements, underground obstructions and other local factors. Cost variations can also be caused by unforeseen circumstances, for example, an early excavation uncovered an unmapped gas main.
On average, for the first 54 fountains installed, the total cost the GLA contributed towards each fountain and its installation is between £4,800-£4,900.

Thames Water Drinking Fountain (4)

Emma Best: How could South Woodford go about accessing alternative funding if the Thames Water scheme will not reopen?

The Mayor: To help Londoners ditch single-use plastic bottles and reduce plastic waste, I partnered with Thames Water to install a network of 110 water fountains in busy areas across the capital. I’m delighted that the programme was successfully completed this summer, achieving my London Environment Strategy and Manifesto commitments.
While my partnership with Thames Water has now ended, the London Plan states that free drinking water fountains should be provided in appropriate locations in new or redeveloped public realm, with management and maintenance secured and agreed at the planning stage. I would encourage others, including the local authorities and businesses to build on the success of this pan-London initiative.
Through my review process of the 2023-25 Reduction and Recycling Plans, I am also engaging with local authorities aroundimplementing local initiatives such as installing drinking fountainstoreduce single-use-plastic waste andhelp achieve my ambition for London to be a zero-waste city.

Thames Water Drinking Fountain (3)

Emma Best: South Woodford station is incredibly popular with commuters and would benefit from a water fountain, would you consider an application from South Woodford?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2022/4147.

LLDC Transition (4)

Sakina Sheikh: How will the board and the governing body of the LLDC be re-constituted following the removal of its planning powers?

The Mayor: The reset LLDC Board will consist of at least ten members appointed by the Mayor of London, including an independent chair, an elected member from each of the boroughs whose land sits within the reduced mayoral development corporation boundary (as per the Localism Act 2011), a young person, and members with significant track records in delivering inclusive growth across a range of skillsets. LLDC will also ensure diversity and inclusion throughout the process.

LLDC Transition (3)

Sakina Sheikh: How are you projecting the Fixed Estate Charge on the LLDC will increase over time? What impact will this have on the corporation’s finances?

The Mayor: The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Fixed Estate Charge (FEC) applies to residential, community and commercial occupiers on land which LLDC owns. It continues to be a major funding source and helps with the upkeep and maintenance of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park estate, including parklands, footpaths, cycle ways, bridges and waterways. LLDC's income from the FEC is forecast to increase as developments are completed and occupiers continue to move onto the Park. The FEC is being reviewed by Deputy Mayor Jules Pipe and that review will be published shortly.

LLDC Transition (2)

Sakina Sheikh: How will you ensure that the LLDC becomes financially sustainable over time so that it can operate without any revenue grant funding from the GLA? This is except for the ongoing subsidy required for the operation of the London Stadium.

The Mayor: For the long-term financial sustainability of LLDC, the objective is that when developments on the Park are completed (early 2030s), and income from the Fixed Estate Charge has increased accordingly, the requirement for GLA grant funding, excluding the London Stadium, will be eliminated. Work has progressed on reviewing the organisation’s future cost base and how the objective can be achieved through increasing commercial income. This work will continue over the coming year and be further updated in forthcoming budget submissions.

LLDC Transition (1)

Sakina Sheikh: How will you ensure an orderly transfer of planning powers back to the boroughs from the LLDC on 1st December 2024?

The Mayor: In September 2022, I approved the return of town planning powers from LLDC to the four boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Newham, Hackney and Waltham Forest on 1 December 2024. I have since written to the Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, to request that the necessary legislative arrangements are made. LLDC and the four boroughs continue to work closely together, including collaborative working groups focusing on planning policy, development management and data transfer as well as detailed discussions are ongoing on workforce implications. That work is being overseen by a Transition Planning Leads group, which consists of senior borough and LLDC officers. In addition, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in October by LLDC and the Mayors and leader of Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest along with Deputy Mayor Jules Pipe.

LFB Staff Wellbeing

Susan Hall: How are you going to work with LFB to support staff who are having to take sick days due to stress and anxiety?

The Mayor: LFB understands the importance of good mental health and has launched a new Wellbeing Strategy.
London Fire Brigade (LFB) launched a new Wellbeing Strategy for staff on 7 November 2022, along with a new mental health policy “Mental Health: Promote, Protect and Treat”. The Wellbeing Strategy includes initiatives already underway such as implementing a refreshed attendance policy to focus more on prevention of absence. This includes increasing numbers of mental health first aiders in the Brigade - ideally to reach one per team per location. LFB has also been delivering ‘Recognising Stress, Anxiety and Depression’ training for line managers, which 488 people have attended (as of 9 November 2022).Alongside this, the new LFB HR People Partner team, which have recently been put in post, are starting to work with heads of service to understand sickness data and trends at department level and design specific, tailored support and interventions to improve wellbeing and reduce sickness absence.

Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (2)

Leonie Cooper: How much of the funding allocated to London has now been spent?

The Mayor: My officials are working with London Councils and Retrofit London to ensure we understand the constraints that make SHDF difficult for London and we continue to lobby for more and more flexible funding to support London’s retrofit ambitions.

Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (1)

Leonie Cooper: How much of the £160m funding for the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund was allocated to London?

The Mayor: The Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy awarded funding to London based organisations following an open call for competitive bids in October 2021. London boroughs bid directly and in total £23 million was awarded to London. Successful applications are listed on the government website https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-housing-decarbonisation-fund-wave-1-successful-bids

Ward Officer Abstractions (2)

Caroline Pidgeon: Please provide for the BCU area of Central West, the number of days per month Dedicated Ward Officers were abstracted by ward for the past year.

The Mayor: Dedicated Ward Officer (DWO) abstraction data is provided in the London Datastore: Dedicated Ward Officer Abstractions - London Datastore.

MPS Serious Collision Investigation Unit

Caroline Russell: How many staff and officers do the Serious Collision Investigation Unit (SCIU) employ? Could you break this down by job title, as well as the number of vacancies and how long these have been carried for?

The Mayor: The Serious Collision Investigation Unit (SCIU) employs 76 staff, comprised of 4 Detective Inspectors, 16 Detective Sergeants and 56 Detective Constables.
The team currently has 1 Detective Sergeant vacancy and 10.2 Detective Constable vacancies. These vacancies have varied throughout the last year.

Drought Conditions

Leonie Cooper: At present, Thames Water has declared a drought and this remains despite the welcome return of rain the past few weeks. Have we heard from Thames Water when their drought designation is likely to be lifted?

The Mayor: Officers have met with Thames Water weekly though this Drought period to monitor the situation. MQ 3954 and 3956 details further meetings that I have had with OFWAT and that officers have had with water companies. Despite recent rain London has remained in drought as we have had 10 months out of the last 12 months where we have had below average rainfall. The rain has resulted in an increase in level in our reservoirs and groundwater levels, but they remain below what would normally be expected at this time of year. Thames Water estimate at least 70% of the average rainfall until spring will be needed for water levels to return to normal, as this is very likely with continuing rainfall they have removed the Temporary Use Ban monitoring it carefully.

State of London's Health (4)

Emma Best: With regard to the Implementation Plan for the London Health Inequalities Strategy can you please tell me whether ethnic health inequalities have increased or decreased since 2016?

The Mayor: In the 2021-24 implementation plan for my Health Inequalities Strategy, I set out the need to prioritise action to tackle ethnicity-related health inequalities. The disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on many Black, Asian and minoritised communities exposed this unfairness for all to see.
The causes of ethnicity related health inequalities are complex, multi-faceted, and underpinned by historical and structural racism. They are long standing issues, which will take time to address, working closely with ethnic groups and communities directly affected, but I am pleased to see that health, care and other partners across the city are committed to doing more to address these inequalities, including through anti-racism approaches.
It is shame that the government has still not published the long-awaited Health Disparities White paper, which presented a real opportunity for national action on this urgent challenge.

State of London's Health (2)

Emma Best: Is London on track to have 250,000 wellbeing champions by 2025?

The Mayor: Since I took office in 2016, I have encouraged and enabled hundreds of thousands of Londoners to take training or access resources that empower them to influence or inspire a simplechangeto support the mental health and wellbeing of others.
For example, over 310,000 Londoners, including me, have takenthe #ZeroSuicideLDN training. 4,000 staff in London’s youth and education sector have been trained as Youth Mental Health First Aiders. The Dementia Friends training has supported thousands more Londoners to better support those who live with dementia. Right to Thrive has supported communities at risk of poor mental health across the capital.
The next phase of the wellbeing champions work is to build on programmes, resources and training offers and further mobilise our champions by 2025. We continue to explore how we can complement local and targeted work at a pan-Londonlevel.

State of London's Health (3)

Emma Best: With regard to the Implementation Plan for the London Health Inequalities Strategy can you please tell me how many school super zones have been created?

The Mayor: Following a successful pilot in 2018 and 2019, the School Superzones programme was launched in 2022.
To date, grants of over £700,000 have been made to 17 boroughs to help create more than 40 School Superzones, and work is already underway between the boroughs, schools and local partners to create a healthier, greener, safer and more prosperous environment for their communities.
A third round of funding is currently open for applications.

State of London's Health (8)

Emma Best: The average number of suicides in London between 2016-2021 was 581 which is slightly lower than the average number of suicides in London between 2001-2021 (595). Do you believe that your health strategies should be adapted in order to reduce the number of suicides in London?

The Mayor: Every suicide is a tragedy and striving towards being a zero-suicide city is a priority for London. I am committed to working alongside London’s health and care partners to improve Londoner’s mental health, including through action focussed on preventing suicide.
However, the prevention and treatment of poor mental health is part of a complex system. In London, the Thrive LDN Suicide Prevention group works to coordinate suicide prevention efforts across the capital. The group is made up of 40 organisations including London’s first responders, the NHS, organisations associated with London’s rivers and railways, local authorities and those with lived experience.
Despite our efforts in London, central government must do more to ensure public mental health is a priority, and reverse years of chronic under investment in our mental health services. Only when there is collective and sustainable effort and funding to drive improve the factors which shape the conditions in which we live, work and grow will it be possible to achieve improved opportunity for good mental health and wellbeing.

Net-Zero Target

Emma Best: What year will London be net zero?

The Mayor: In 2021 I set out my ambition for London to be a net zero carbon city by 2030. This brings forward my commitment by 20 years and recognises the urgency with which we need to act to tackle climate change. I worked with consultants Element Energy to understand how London could achieve my new target, and in January this year I responded to their analysis in my statement ‘London Net Zero 2030: An Updated Pathway’ adopting the ‘Accelerated Green’ pathway.

State of London's Health (6)

Emma Best: Community champions that help Londoners who need it most should be thanked by all of us. Can you please specify how you intend to reach “community champions to thank them for their work and support” as outlined in MD3026?

The Mayor: I agree that Community Champions have done incredible work to help and support the health of Londoners. In particular the incredible work they did to support the roll out of the COVID vaccine.
We remain part of the pan-London Advisory Group for the Community Champions programme, which also includes the NHS, London Councils, UKHSA, and the Association of the Directors of Public Health. The Community Champions programme is currently moving into the next phase of its work, looking at how we embed these ways of working into the future. Part of discussion include how we can best thank Champions across London. We are part of these ongoing discussions and I am ready to support proposals as they are finalised. As part of this we also hope to amplify and share their great work further by sharing case studies on our channels.

State of London's Health (7)

Emma Best: How successful has Thrive LDN been in improving mental wellbeing in London and how is this being measured?

The Mayor: Thrive LDN is a citywide public mental health movement that includes UKHSA, OHID, NHS London, London Councils, City Hall, Healthy London Partnerships and many more – all working under one banner toward the shared mission of ensuring Londoners are treated fairly and can live a happy and healthy life.
A collective effort from partners across the system is crucial to ensuring we reach as many Londoners as possible, and also to sustaining a consistent action on mental health issues. You can find some of our partnership’s achievements in the 2021-2022 annual Insights Report.
Thrive LDN is currently in the process of evaluating large-scale programmes of work such as Youth Mental Health First Aid, Right to Thrive, and the Real-Time Surveillance System on suspected suicides in London, in order to further show the impact of the partnership’s work on individuals, communities and across systems in London. Their aim is to publish this review by 2023.

Argentina

Tony Devenish: Did you enjoy your trip to Argentina?

The Mayor: The climate emergency is the biggest global threat we face, and as Chair of the almost 100 C40 cities I was proud to lead the World Mayors Summit in Buenos Aires.
This was the largest ever gathering of mayors to date, with over 200 cities taking part – and more mayors from cities in the Global South in attendance than ever before. We were also joined by over 100 business, charities, activists, and NGOs.
Amongst others, we had support from the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, His Holiness Pope Francis and the UK Government COP26 President Alok Sharma.
I led critical discussions at the summit around how cities can accelerate emissions reductions, create green jobs and protect their citizens from the worst effects of climate change. I announced the drive of C40 Cities to create 50 million good, green jobs by 2030, and support for 34 projects in the Global South that could access over $1 billion of finance.
Successive COPs have shown that national governments are struggling to deliver on the promises they’ve made, despite the rapidly closing window of opportunity to avert a climate catastrophe.
Currently national government commitments to reducing emissions put us on a pathway to 2.4 degrees – which is simply too high to protect the future of our planet and communities around the world, including in the UK.
The C40 network is driving change. Nearly 100 Mayors from global cities work together to act against climate change. Between us we represent one twelfth of the world's population and more than 20 per cent of the global economy.
C40 cities achieved a 5 per cent reduction in air pollution last year, and three quarters of C40 cities are reducing emissions quicker than their nations. C40 city leaders are the doers, not the delayers, on climate change.

Blue Light Police Drivers

Caroline Pidgeon: Please provide a breakdown for the number of blue light police officer drivers per borough per year for the past 5 years.

The Mayor: In August 2022 the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) introduced the new corporate Learning Management System (LMS). Previously, driver training records were held on a legacy system which did not allow the MPS to obtain and analyse historic trend data. This was a key driver in moving to the LMS.
Accordingly, only recent data is available. The table below shows trained driver data per Basic Command Unit (BCU) extracted on 10/11/2022. Note there is still some data transition in progress – the data does not include drivers who were trained during the move to the LMS.
BCU
Total
AS - Central South Command Unit
273
AW - Central West Command Unit
279
CE - Central East Command Unit
267
CN - Central North Command Unit
239
EA - East Area Command Unit
320
NA - North Area Command Unit
249
NE - North East Command Unit
263
NW - North West Command Unit
294
SE - South East Command Unit
348
SN - South Area Command Unit
336
SW - South West Command Unit
320
WA - West Area Command Unit
354

LLDC Housing Delivery Plan

Sem Moema: Do you think that the London Legacy Development Corporation’s Housing Delivery Plan 2020-2025 should be publicly available and, if so, will you ensure that it is?

The Mayor: The Housing Delivery Plan (HDP) set out our delivery and implementation plan for LLDC landholdings and, as such, some were commercially sensitive and some continue to be as it relates to future market negotiations and procurement. LLDC will publish the HDP with commercially-sensitive information redacted.
LLDC's housing delivery targets and progress are reported quarterly to the Homes for Londoners board, with updates also recorded in LLDC's quarterly Corporate Performance Report, Public Reports to the LLDC Board and in press releases.

Mayoral Support for Warm Banks and Community Living Rooms

Leonie Cooper: What support are you providing to Warm Banks and Community Living Rooms across London this winter?

The Mayor: As per my response to MQ3460, London boroughs have taken the lead in signposting members of the public to warm spaces that they run and support.
My officials have been working with London Councils, who are leading the coordination of this work, and we stand ready to signpost borough offers through my Cost-of-Living Hub, and through my advice services.

Relationship with BEIS

Leonie Cooper: How will the GLA work with the new Secretary of State for the Environment and BEIS to ensure that our current environmental protections are not only retained but strengthened?

The Mayor: I have written to the Secretaries of State for BEIS and Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs to congratulate them on their appointments, and to affirm that I wish to work constructively with them to deliver for Londoners – that includes protecting our environment.
I am clear that the UK’s environmental standards should not be watered down and I will continue to make the case to the Government that these standards should be enhanced where possible.

MPS injuries policing the Queen’s funeral

Caroline Russell: How many, if any, Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers were injured across the six days policing the Queen’s lying-in state and funeral? Could you provide the nature of any injuries broken down by date and incident type, incident severity, injured part, and injury type?

The Mayor: Incident Date
Incident Type
Incident Severity
Injured Part
Injury Type
15/09/2022
Slip trip or fall same level
Minor Injury Non Reportable
Knee - Left
Swelling
13/09/2022
Another kind of accident
Minor Injury Non Reportable
Thigh - Left
Muscle Strain
12/09/2022
Struck by moving vehicle
Minor Injury Non Reportable
Back
Whiplash
18/09/2022
Another kind of accident
Minor Injury Non Reportable
Eye - Left
Foreign body in eye
19/09/2022
Standing for long periods
Over 3 Day Injury
Back
Muscle Strain
10/09/2022
Standing for long periods
Minor Injury Non Reportable
Back
Muscle Strain
19/09/2022
Lifting and handling injuries
Over 3 Day Injury
Knee - Left
Joint Sprain
15/09/2022
Slip trip or fall same level
Minor Injury Non Reportable
Ankle - Left
Joint Sprain
18/09/2022
Lifting and handling injuries
Minor Injury Non Reportable
Back
Muscle Strain
19/09/2022
Struck by object
Minor Injury Non Reportable
Hand - Left
Crush
17/09/2022
Struck by object
Minor Injury Non Reportable
Finger or fingers - Right
Crush
14/09/2022
Injured by an animal
Minor Injury Non Reportable
Neck
Muscle Strain
19/09/2022
Struck by object
Minor Injury Non Reportable
Shoulder - Left
Bruise
16/09/2022
Standing for long periods
Over 3 Day Injury
Knee - Right
aggravated existing injury
19/09/2022
Standing for long periods
Minor Injury Non Reportable
Hip - Left
aggravated existing injury
19/09/2022
Slip trip or fall same level
Minor Injury Non Reportable
Knee - Left
Graze
15/09/2022
Standing for long periods
Over 7 Day Injury
Ankle - Left
aggravated existing injury
19/09/2022
Lifting and handling injuries
Minor Injury Non Reportable
Knee - Right
Joint Sprain
19/09/2022
Standing for long periods
Minor Injury Non Reportable
Shoulder - Left
aggravated existing injury

Fuel Poverty

Leonie Cooper: What is the likely impact of the Government withdrawing support for energy bills in April 2023? How are you working to support Londoners in need?

The Mayor: Households and businesses need urgent clarity on the level of their energy bills after April 2023, and who will be supported with these. Government should consult widely in the design of ongoing support and ensure that at the centre of that consultation is the concerns of the most vulnerable.
Government should introduce a genuine windfall tax on energy producers to help foot the bill for this support, and a ‘Lifeline Tariff’ allowing a minimum floor of domestic energy use before charges begin for the most vulnerable. Please also see my response to MQ 2022/4084.
My Cost-of-Living Hub brings together and signposts the help available to Londoners. My Warmer Homes Advice Service and Warmer Homes programme are available to help the most vulnerable reduce their energy costs. I’ve also just launched Energy Advice London, https://energyadvice.london/energy-advice/ to expertly guide Londoners through managing their bills and help them make their homes more energy efficient.

Mild Weather this Autumn

Leonie Cooper: How is the GLA working to mitigate any environmental impacts caused by the milder weather we have seen the autumn?

The Mayor: The London Urban Forest and London Green Infrastructure Partnerships, convened by my officers, note that the mild weather may delay some tree planting projects as trees may not be dormant and therefore not ready to leave the nurseries.
Similarly, the mild weather may cause delays to habitat creation and restoration funded through my Rewild London fund. These activities mainly take place in late autumn and winter to avoid periods when wildlife is most active. In both cases, where necessary, my officers will work with partners to adjust plans so that projects can still be delivered.
Unusually warm autumn weather also affects soil moisture levels. It can affect surface water runoff rates, increasing the risk of flash flooding. I am preparing for possible impacts by ensuring Thames Water allows the watering of newly established trees; and working with partners to ensure the recommendations from my surface water flooding roundtable are implemented.

Refugee Support (2)

Hina Bokhari: What support do you provide for refugees who are not from Ukraine or Afghanistan, and what efforts do you make to ensure that their needs are understood and addressed?

The Mayor: I am committed to working with all London boroughs and civil society to help meet the needs of all refugees. Through the London Strategic Migration Partnership (LSMP), my officers convene the Migrant and Refugee Advisory Panel, to ensure expert voices of refugee community groups are central to our approach.
Working with London Councils and boroughs, the LSMP has proposed a new approach to Government. This emphasises focus on the wider experiences and needs of all refugee and asylum populations, beyond just housing.
In addition, through my Asylum Welcome Programme, officers are working to support boroughs design services that better address the needs of all people seeking asylum.
I am proud that London has committed to welcoming refugees through resettlement schemes but am acutely aware that the multiple Government schemes create different tiers of support. I continue to call for a fairer and more consistent approach that serves refugees of all nationalities.

Fires from e-scooters and e-bikes (2)

Hina Bokhari: Will the London Fire Brigade add a heading to its official statistics that shows the number of fires started by electrically powered personal vehicles each year?

The Mayor: London Fire Brigade will publishan open data set of electric vehicle fireson the London Datastorein December 2022 and this will then be updated monthly alongside other open data sets (e.g. animal rescue, lift releases).

Refugee Support (1)

Hina Bokhari: Further to Question No 2022/2852, will you ensure that guidance given by your officers through the London Strategic Migration Partnership encourages Councils and community groups to make active efforts to engage all refugee groups regardless of nationality?

The Mayor: My officers, through the London Strategic Migration Partnership (LSMP), play an essential role working closely with all London boroughs, community groups and other partners to ensure we are serving and engaging with migrant communities, no matter their nationality.
The LSMP Board, chaired by my Deputy Mayor Debbie Weekes-Bernard, convenes key partners at a strategic level to secure better outcomes for refugee groups. We respond to immediate crises affecting them and work to improve medium and long-term efforts of partners to better support all those seeking protection.
My officers also coordinate the Migrant and Refugee Advisory Panel (MRAP) with a diverse range of community groups serving refugees on the frontline. Their expert views on issues facing migrant groups informs all our work. Convening this panel also enables my officers to support the efforts of these groups in engaging with different communities to make London a welcome place for all.

Financial advice funding

Hina Bokhari: Following on from question 2022/1455 on food insecurity, can you provide an in-depth breakdown of how the “£3.7 million invested this year to raise awareness of financial rights and entitlements and bolster the advice sector.” is being spent?

The Mayor: The £3.7 million additional funding invested this year to raise awareness of financial rights and entitlements and bolster the advice sector breaks down as follows:
Full details can be found in MD2991 Cost of living: support for advice sector 2022-23

Cost of living help for digitally excluded groups

Hina Bokhari: Many Londoners are digitally excluded and are unable to access your online Cost of Living Hub. What actions are you specifically taking to reach out to these hidden groups to help them with the cost of living?

The Mayor: My approach to tackling financial hardship - and food insecurity - includes support targeted at groups who we know are more affected by the cost of living rises, or who may require extra help.
My officers are developing a leaflet which sets out key information from the Cost of Living Hub, focussing on non-digital forms of support like helplines. It will be targeted at areas of high digital exclusion.
I’m also providing funding to the advice services to continue to make their face-to-face offer more accessible. This includes investing £1.7million in my Advice in Community Settings programme which is supporting 11 partnerships to embed their services in settings including schools, food banks, faith settings and children’s centres.
I’ve also provided £2.3 million funding to London Citizens Advice and London Legal Support Trust to increase capacity across their networks and establish new outreach/referral partnerships with community organisations. And I’m funding Debt Free London to run a mobile advice bus which provides advice in high-footfall locations.

First 1000 days of a child’s life

Marina Ahmad: Will the GLA map out healthy food monitoring and support services for mothers and infants from antenatal care up to the beginning of primary school, which would identify any gaps between services during this period and identify actions which can guarantee children have access to nutritious food prior to attending primary school?

The Mayor: Through the Healthy Place, Healthy Weight mission partnership we are supporting work to promote breastfeeding which brings health benefits to both mothers and babies. Current work will provide a snapshot of infant feeding support services in London, insights from mothers and case studies, and review the obstacles to effective data collection. This information will help local authorities to support breastfeeding.
It’s also important to draw attention to the NHS Healthy Start vouchers that help women who are pregnant or have young children and are receiving benefits, buy food such as milk or fruit. As a part of the Robust Safety Net mission, the next iteration of the Food Roots 2 programme will include a specific focus on improving access to Healthy Start, working with food partnerships increase awareness, support new applications and help reduce food insecurity among families with young children.
Healthy eating is a key theme in my Healthy Early Years London (HEYL) award programme. This encourages nurseries to support children by providing a healthy lunch and healthy snacks and water. Nurseries must meet all criteria of the voluntary food and drink guidelines for early years settings in England in order to achieve a bronze HEYL award. HEYL content will be reviewed and refreshed, ready to be launched in September 2023.

Raising incomes in London

Marina Ahmad: Can you outline what actions you have taken to lobby the Government to take immediate action to tackle the cost of living crisis by raising incomes substantially and providing immediate monetary support to low income families?

The Mayor: I have recently written to the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to set out actions that need to be taken to support Londoners, and request a meeting.
The Government refuse to take the basic steps needed to help those least well-off such as providing free school meals to all primary school children, uplifting benefits by inflation, and ensuring that the most vulnerable receive a basic amount of free energy.
They should also grant City Hall the power to freeze private rents in London, which could save Londoners who are privately renting £3,000 over two years.
I will continue to call on the Government to take action, as well as commissioning research to support my calls, for example a cost-benefit analysis on abolishing No Recourse to Public Funds conditions, and research in 2021 highlighting the impact of abolishing the £20 uplift to Universal Credit.

Carbon pathway for reduction vehicle kilometres by borough (2)

Siân Berry: Your January 2022 report, London Net Zero 2030: An Updated Pathway, contains a scenario that would reduce car vehicle kilometres by 27 per cent by 2030 to reduce transport emissions. The pathways tool that accompanies the report does not provide any breakdown of the necessary reduction in car vehicle kilometres by borough, and instead represents these changes by broad groups of traffic and type of fuel. Could you provide a table that gives the reduction in vehicle kilometres, by type of vehicle, by year from 2020 to 2030 that each borough in London needs to deliver?

The Mayor: This data should have been available in the tool but due to a technical error, the borough transport km data was not being displayed in the dashboard. This has now been corrected in the updated version of the tool on the datastore. By selecting the chosen borough on the dashboard, along with “transport” and “road transport vehicle kilometres” from the relevant drop down menus, vehicle km data is displayed on the dashboard for five-year increments, with yearly data made available at the bottom of the “Main graph Results” worksheet. This data is also provided in a single table here.
It should be noted that in the tool the borough vehicle kms are scaled from the overall vkm for London, according to the distribution of traffic and emissions in the London Air Emissions Inventory (LAEI). As such, the same relative reduction in vkm levels is assumed for all boroughs. In practice this will not be the case since each borough has different potential for shifting away from vehicles.

The Mayor: MQ 3939 - Transport v-kms by borough.xlsx

NHS Waiting Lists (3)

Krupesh Hirani: The Government has warned that NHS waiting lists may not start to fall until 2024, leaving many Londoners waiting months and years for hospital care. Do you have any information on how many Londoners could be waiting for elective care by then?

The Mayor: I share your concern that the number of Londoners waiting to access NHS care remains high.
I understand from NHSEI London that the number of people in London waiting for more than 18 months for treatment has reduced by 80% over the past year, with the figure now standing at just over 2,300.
However, I will continue to meet with senior NHS leaders in London to champion and challenge them to provide the high-quality services Londoners need and deserve. This will include understanding the impact on Londoners of long waiting lists and actions the NHS will continue to take.

NHS Waiting Lists (2)

Krupesh Hirani: Recent analysis has shown that the health service is carrying out 12% fewer operations than before the pandemic. What can the GLA do to support the NHS in London as we approach winter?

The Mayor: Winter is the busiest time of the year for the NHS. With an anticipated high prevalence of COVID-19 and flu, alongside a backlog ofelective care cases, this winter is set to be particularly challenging.
​I meet regularly with senior NHS leaders to discuss the preparedness of the NHS for dealing with winter pressures, and I know that the NHS in London has developed extensive plans to understand and mitigate the challenges being faced. I am continuing my efforts to promote the uptake of vaccinations, including the autumn flu and COVID-19 booster, which will help to protect Londoners and ease pressure on our health services. I will also continue to call on the government to make sure that frontline services, including not only the NHS but also social care and public health, get the resources that they need.

Food Insecurity and Health Inequalities

Krupesh Hirani: Do you share my concern that rising food insecurity in London will lead to an increase in health inequalities? And how is City Hall working to address this?

The Mayor: I’m gravely concerned about the level of food insecurity in London and the impact it’s already having on health inequalities.
The main underlying driver of food insecurity is low-income so I’m spending £5 million on advice interventions to help Londoners claim all their financial rights and entitlements. The next iteration of my Food Roots programme also focusses on implementing cash-first approaches in food-aid settings, including by increasing uptake of Healthy Start Vouchers. My Healthy Early Years London award programme also includes healthy eating as a key theme.
A warm and well insulated home is crucial for preventing and managing health conditions. That’s why I’m spending more than £50 million to tackle fuel poverty with a focus on improving energy efficiency through my Warmer Homes Programme.
The ULEZ scheme is another vital way that I’m supporting better health outcomes for the poorest Londoners. Low-income Londoners are more likely to live in areas with the worst air pollution, further exacerbating existing health inequalities. Reducing toxic air pollution is an important part of tackling these inequalities. That’s why I introduced the ULEZ and propose to expand it to outer London, which currently has the greatest number of deaths attributable to air pollution.

Business Energy Efficiency (3)

Tony Devenish: Businesses unnecessarily leaving their lights on overnight, not only is energy inefficient, but creates light pollution which can have extremely negative health impacts. How will you ensure that Londoners are not suffering from this form of light pollution?

The Mayor: Light pollution has detrimental effects on Londoners’ health as it can disturb sleep and affect stress levels. London’s commercial buildings are often cleaned and maintained overnight- requiring lights to be on. This is the case at City Hall where motion light controls ensure lighting turns off in spaces which are not in use.
My Business Climate Challenge provides support to businesses to identify how they can operate their workplaces more efficiently- including on timing of building services like heating and lighting. My Quick Wins resource on building energy consumption encourages businesses to ensure lighting and other building systems are on only when spaces are in use.
My London Plan sets out clear guidelines on external lightning for tall buildings, as it should be minimal, energy efficient and designed to minimise glare. Further, new building developments should minimise energy demand, which includes reducing lighting where not needed.

Community Food Shop

Hina Bokhari: Using a foodbank can for some carry with it a negative stigma. Sutton Council recently started the Sutton Community Food Shop. Would you consider exploring a similar idea on a larger scale in order to more effectively combat food insecurity across London?

The Mayor: Londoners working to provide emergency food aid across the capital do an incredible and difficult job. There’s no shame in needing support, but I know that stigma can keep some from accessing the support they need. I believe every Londoner should be able to choose healthy, affordable, good food regardless of their personal circumstances.
Community shops may be able to offer more choice and dignity than some food banks, and I will continue to support the work that they do. Community food shops, pantries, and other retail alternatives which use surplus food can also help tackle food waste and reduce the carbon footprint of London’s food. I’m expanding my Food Connect programme to support 5 new centres to redistribute surplus food to their communities. This sits alongside an incubator programme for alternative retail businesses, including those redistributing surplus food, which supports them to develop sustainably.
However, alone they are not a sustainable way of addressing food insecurity. Food insecurity is driven primarily by financial hardship, and so alongside supporting these community organisations we must focus on work which supports Londoners to increase their incomes and reduce their costs. That’s why I have a range of programmes which help address the cost of living, including spending £5 million to connect Londoners with welfare advice and improve access to their rights and entitlements.

Londoners in persistent poverty

Hina Bokhari: What is your long-term strategy to reduce the number of Londoners living in persistent poverty?

The Mayor: The underlying drivers of persistent poverty are various and deep-rooted and I’m doing all I can to address them.
I’m keeping day-to-day costs down by building a record number of genuinely affordable homes, keeping transport costs as low as possible, and delivering energy efficiency savings through my Warmer Homes programme. My work on financial hardship supports Londoners to maximise their incomes and deal with problem debt.
I’m taking steps to ensure that Londoners can access secure, good quality, well-paid jobs. My Good Work Standard encourages employers to offer better working conditions and pay at least the London Living Wage, and I’m using the Adult Education Budget to ensure those on low-incomes can gain the skills they need to find and retain work.
I’m also working with partners across the city to tackle cross-cutting structural and health inequalities (which can be a barrier to escaping poverty) through the Building a Fairer City Action Plan and my Health Inequalities Strategy Implementation Plan.

Solar Together London Scheme (2)

Hina Bokhari: In response to question 2022/3285 you mentioned that the delivery partner for your Solar Together London scheme, iChoosr, “reviews the work daily and reports weekly to my GLA team on progress against agreed actions.” What are these actions?

The Mayor: I am committed to supporting the deployment of solar across London and ensuring that customers of Solar Together London receive good service.
GLA officers have set out a wide range of actions for improving the delivery of Solar Together London, which have been agreed by the delivery partner, iChoosr, which manages the installer companies. Some actions are applicable to all installer companies, others are specific to individual companies.
Actions are grouped into themes. These include improving proactive communications; increasing the pace of delivery including higher contract acceptance and booking rates; improving regular reporting; reducing drivers of complaints through process improvements; improving Trustpilot scores/presence; increasing customer feedback; and reducing the number of rescheduled appointments. More information on actions can be found in my response to 2022/3928.

Older Londoners in poverty (2)

Hina Bokhari: Do you agree that older Londoners are often not the focus of discussions around poverty in the capital?

The Mayor: There is a common misconception that all older Londoners are wealthy home-owners with generous pensions, but we know this simply isn’t the case.
Less than 1-in-5 older Londoners were in relative poverty (after housing costs) in 2010. By the onset of the pandemic, following a decade of austerity, this figure had risen to 1-in-4. With the Government choosing to reimpose austerity, I’m deeply concerned this proportion will continue to rise, particularly in light of how vulnerable older Londoners are to increasing energy and care costs.
I’m determined to do all I can to support those affected. I’m investing £5 million in advice services that provide support to Londoners of all ages in person and over the phone. I’ll also shortly be launching a Pension Credit uptake campaign with boroughs, and my Warmer Homes and Warmer Homes Advice programmes are helping to lower energey bills for fuel poor Londoners (who are more likely to be older).

Older Londoners in poverty (1)

Hina Bokhari: What specific actions are you taking to support older Londoners living in poverty, especially those who are digitally excluded?

The Mayor: A key part of my approach to reducing financial hardship is supporting Londoners to access all of the rights and entitlements they are entitled to.
I’m investing £5 million in advice interventions which are helping Londoners of all ages and backgrounds maximise their incomes and reduce their outgoings, primarily by improving access to face-to-face or telephone services which are more accessible to older Londoners than digital offers. My officers are also developing a leaflet setting out key information from the Cost of Living Hub, focussing on on-digital means of support (like helplines).
I’m also working with a range of partners to encourage uptake of Pension Credit, a key benefit for older people on low-incomes which at least a third of eligible households are not claiming. This includes disseminating over 210,000 leaflets since the start of 2021 via partners including local Age UK outlets, covid vaccine centres, and London Fire Brigade. I’ll also shortly be launching a Pension Credit Uptake campaign with boroughs.

London Power (3)

Tony Devenish: Do you think that the money being put towards London Power could be better used during a cost of living crisis?

The Mayor: London Power was formed to offer fairer, more affordable and greener energy in response to a dysfunctional energy market. However, the energy crisis has impacted the whole market, with minimal customer switching since Autumn 2021, and massive Government intervention to support energy bills.
In Spring 2022, we reviewed the level of resource provided to London Power to ensure that all regulatory and contractual requirements were fulfilled, but minimising non-essential activities. We therefore aim to operate at no net cost to Londoners in 2022/23 and expect our costs will be covered by the money that comes in through commission.
As part of this cost reduction exercise, GLA staff resource has been redeployed to other GLA priorities, including responding to the cost-of-living challenge. For more information on how London Power has reduced its running costs, please see MQ 2022/3545.

Interest rate rise (1)

Marina Ahmad: Do you have the data for the number of Londoners that would be paying more on mortgages due to the interest rate rise in London, and can this be broken down by borough?

The Mayor: City Hall analysis of Bank of England data from 2021, the latest available, suggests that more than half of Londoners with fixed term mortgages face their deals ending this year or next. This equates to around 400,000 households who could soon be facing dramatically higher mortgage costs due to increased interest rates – an additional £8000 a year by late 2024 according to the Resolution Foundation. In total just over a quarter (26 per cent) of London households have a mortgage, slightly below UK averages. It should be noted not all households with mortgages will experience any impact from rising interest rates immediately, as some are on longer-term fixed rate deals. Unfortunately, this data does not have detail at the borough level.

Interest rate rise (2)

Marina Ahmad: What impact do you expect the interest rate rise to have on consumer spending and business confidence in London?

The Mayor: Interest rates have risen sharply as the Bank of England responds to inflation at 40-year highs. And long-term market rates soared in the aftermath of the Government’s mini-budget.
Rising interest rates make it harder for companies to borrow to invest and for households to make major purchases. They could also cause hardship to many Londoners with mortgages, compounding the cost-of-living crisis.
Soaring interest rates and high prices are damaging confidence. London Households are more pessimistic than at any point since the Financial Crisis according to GfK. Meanwhile, business confidence is trending downwards and has fallen below long-term averages in the NatWest London PMI.
These figures clearly point to a slowdown in spending by households and investment by businesses. While London’s confidence figures are still more resilient than UK averages, we cannot assume that resilience will last forever.

NHS Waiting Lists (1)

Krupesh Hirani: Are you concerned about the impact on Londoners of the growing waiting lists for hospital care, which recently reached seven million across England? Is there anything City Hall can do to help Londoners access the operations they need?

The Mayor: I share your concern that the number of Londoners waiting to access NHS care remains high. I know this is a top priority for the NHS in London, and positive steps have been taken.
However, there is far more work to be done to get waiting lists down. I meet regularly with senior NHS leaders to support and challenge the NHS to make every effort to build on this progress and help ensure Londoners CAN access the operations they need. I will also continue to lobby central government to give the NHS in London the resources it needs to bring waiting lists down further.

Solar Together

Len Duvall: Can you give me an update on the work being done on the next phase of the project and the progress of the plans to make sure the issues in the last phase are not repeated?

The Mayor: Over 1,600 installations have now been completed through phase four of Solar Together London, exceeding programme targets. In phase five 416 installations have already been completed and a further 492 installations are currently booked in.
To monitor the impact of the improvements set out in MQ3284 and MQ3285, the GLA required iChoosr to put an Installer Improvement Plan in place. This contains actions applicable to all installers as well as specific actions for each installer on Solar Together London. MQ3884 sets out the themes of these actions.
Senior members of my team including my Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy have continued to meet regularly with iChoosr since June to monitor progress of actions.
My team continues to work with iChoosr and the installers to improve reliability and deliver the high standards that customers and I expect.

Met’s Vetting Unit

Susan Hall: How many people roles exist with the Met’s Vetting Unit and how many vacancies/unfilled roles are there?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Reference and Vetting Unit has a design target of 470 police staff.
There are currently 425 staff in post with 45 vacancies. There has been a phased increase in staff since the summer and the unit is expected to reach full strength in January 2023.

Warmer Homes (1)

Tony Devenish: Can you please provide a breakdown by year from 2018 on how many Londoners have taken up the Warmer Homes Scheme?

The Mayor: My Warmer Homes programme has improved almost 2,500 homes in private-sector housing since 2018. The current programme runs until 31st March 2023 and has funding allocated to improve up to a further 3,205 homes. For the current programme, I have already received over 1,500 confirmed eligible applications so far, across all 33 boroughs. Please also see my response to MQ 2022/3217.

Warmer Homes (2)

Tony Devenish: Can you provide a breakdown by year from 2018 on the funding provided to Londoners who have taken up the Warmer Homes Scheme?

The Mayor: Please see my response to MQ 2022/3217.

Warmer Homes (3)

Tony Devenish: How much of the £43 million funding is still available for the Warmer Homes Scheme? How will you, as a matter of urgency allocate any underspend, if appropriate?

The Mayor: The programme is currently in the operational phase. Due to the nature of the programme, the financial forecast and spend will change, depending on installer programme of works and the nature of the retrofit works required for each home.To date we have received over 1,500 eligible applications. A detailed breakdown is therefore not available at this stage.
I expect and encourage more Londoners to apply to the scheme and for homes to be retrofitted over the Winter period, as energy demand and heating costs increase.I am actively working with local authorities and voluntary sector organisations to support eligible applicants to access funding.
Please also see my response to MQ 2022/3217.

Reducing water abstraction during drought

Zack Polanski: London has been in a drought for several months that looks set to last well into next year. What discussions have you had with construction and infrastructure sites to encourage them to reduce water abstraction during this drought?

The Mayor: The Deputy Mayor for Energy and Environment Shirley Rodrigues met with Thames Water Chief Executive Sarah Bentley in July and wrote to her in August following the introduction of the Temporary Use Ban in the summer. The Deputy Mayor reinforced the need for publicity to highlight to all including commercial users the need to use less water during this time of drought earlier than they did. Thames Water have now written to all 250,000 commercial water users, which includes construction and infrastructure customers, to ask them to reduce water use during this ongoing drought. For certain sites, water use remains critical to safe operations, for example where the water table needs to be lowered to safely construct below ground, or for dust suppression to mitigate against poor air quality.

Drought planning in London

Zack Polanski: What meetings and discussions have you and GLA officers had with external organisations such as, but not limited to Thames Water and the Environment Agency, to deal with a sustained drought in London, and what plans have come from them?

The Mayor: I met with Ofwat Chair Iain Croucher and Chief Executive David Black in October. called on them to ensure that water companies allocate sufficient funding in their Price Review 24 plan submission to ensure a sustainable and resilient supply of water for London without impacting on the bills of Londoners. MQ 3956 and 4016 provide further details of meetings that the Deputy Mayor and officers have had with the Water Companies during this drought. More action is needed from these companies to address leakage more quickly than they planned. Officers convened my Water Advisory Group, which includes both Thames Water and the Environment Agency on 6th October to discuss the ongoing drought. Officers have also provided feedback on the draft Water Resources Plan for the South East, (an alliance of the six water companies to secure water supply through a collaborative, regional approach). My officers meet weekly with Thames Water to discuss the ongoing drought and when we can expect restrictions to be lifted. Drought was also added to the London Resilience Weekly Partnership Teleconference and the Partnership is currently reviewing the Drought Framework.

Met detectives

Susan Hall: How many detectives does the Met have and what is the number of current vacancies?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has a current design target of 7,385 detectives.
As of November 2022, there are 5,666 fully qualified detectives in post, alongside 2,451 trainee detectives.

Met Overtime 1

Susan Hall: For each year Nov 2019 to Oct 2020, Nov 2020 to Oct 2021 and Nov 2021 to Oct 2022 how many hours of Met police overtime were used?

The Mayor: Overtime is an established mechanism through which the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) manages its resources and fulfils its operational duties.
The MPS reports that officers worked the following hours of overtime over the time periods requested:

Met schools officers 1

Susan Hall: For each year Nov 2019 to Oct 2020, Nov 2020 to Oct 2021 and Nov 2021 to Oct 2022 how many arrests have been made by Met schools officers?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) advise me that it is not possible to provide this information. A police officer is identified via their warrant number, which does not change when they are posted elsewhere in the organisation. Therefore, to identify the number of arrests made by Safer Schools Officers would require individual searches of databases using each officer’s warrant number and to limit these searches to each individual officer’s time posted as a Safer Schools Officer.

Climate Budgeting and the GLA (2)

Len Duvall: When do you expect the green finance team to be at full complement?

The Mayor: As set out in MQ 2022/4056, recruitment is currently underway for the new green finance team, with interviews currently taking place. The exact timing will depend on notice periods of successful candidates, but we would expect to have all positions filled in the first months of 2023.
In the meantime, as set out in MQ2022/4056, temporary cover has been recruited for three posts. Additionally, the Head of Impact Investment and Analysis has been appointed via secondment.

Climate Budgeting and the GLA (1)

Len Duvall: The Skills and Employment Unit requested an increase to its team of nine posts in order to form a green finance team in a report submitted to the June meeting of the GLA Oversight Committee. How many of these posts are now filled?

The Mayor: The Environment and Energy Unit requested an increase in staffing to form a new Green Finance team across the Unit (four posts) and within London Treasury (five posts).
As of November, one role, Head of Impact Investment and Analysis with London Treasury, has been recruited via secondment. The other four roles (2 carbon specialist and 2 finance specialists) are currently being recruited with two candidates starting in December 2022.
Of the four agreed positions within the Environment and Energy team, three have been filled with Interim staff during October and November. Recruitment is currently taking place for permanent candidates and we hope to have all positions permanently in place early 2023.

Health and climate adaptation

Caroline Russell: The 2022 Lancet Countdown report concluded that “insufficient climate change adaptation efforts have left health systems vulnerable to climate change-related hazards”. What is your assessment of the risks to public health in London posed by climate breakdown, and what action will the GLA Group Public Health Unit take to address these?

The Mayor: Despite our ambitious targets for net zero, a level of unavoidable climate change is now ‘locked in’. I will continue to implement the policies and objectives in my London Environment Strategy on climate change adaptation, with a focus on protecting critical infrastructure and those at risk from climate-related hazards.
The GLA Group Public Health Unit will provide specialist support to ensure that our policies and interventions on climate and the environment also protect health and reduce health inequalities. The Unit’s work will be guided by our London-wide climate risk maps which identified communities at greatest risk of climate related harms. Working closely with the recently established London Climate and Health Network, the Unit will bring together leaders from across the health and care system to focus on the challenges of climate and public health and to establish of set of priority actions to increase health system resilience.

Access to a radio during a power outage

Zack Polanski: Leaked plans for communication with the public via the BBC during a power outage reveal that they depend upon the public having access to a radio. Do you know what proportion of Londoners have access to a battery powered radio?

The Mayor: The GLA does not hold information on the percentage of Londoners who have access to battery-powered radios. Radios can be accessed by a variety of different ways, for example through smart speakers, mobile phones, cars, and standalone radios. Ofcom's Technology Tracker provides data on the proportion of Londoners that have radios at home that are listened to (38 percent), but not specifically about whether they are battery powered.

Estimated deaths from 2022 heatwaves

Zack Polanski: What is your estimate of the number of deaths caused by heatwaves in London this year and what is the source of this data?

The Mayor: Since 2016, UKHSA has produced a report with estimates of heat-related deaths including an assessment for London. I understand that the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to measure heat-related impacts in the same way, which is why UKHSA is currently working with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to improve reporting on this. Together, they have published estimates of the impacts of heat in summer 2022. However, these do not include regional estimates that allow us to compare impacts to previous years.
UKHSA will publish a report in early 2023 which will include regional estimates along with information about the relationship between COVID-19 and heat.
Nationally, UKHSA estimates that there were 2,803 excess deaths during periods of heat in summer 2022 – the highest number since 2016. These increasing impacts are why I have established a Cool Spaces map, guidance for Schools and Early Years' Settings, and care home audits to support those most at risk from heat.

Obesity

Neil Garratt: Can you please point to any city across the world that has a successful obesity strategy which has seen rates of obesity fall as a direct consequence of the policy?

The Mayor: Across the globe, there is great interest in some of the work we are doing here in London to tackle childhood obesity – especially as much of our work is focussed on creating healthier local environments, which benefit not only children but the whole community, and which should have long lasting impacts.
Increasing rates of obesity remain a complex and long-term global challenge. There is no silver bullet to tackling obesity and our health and care systems in London are different to other cities across the world, so a direct comparison is difficult.
Research into city-wide approaches to address obesity has found that multi-component initiatives involving every sector are needed, with interventions working across the individual, community and city levels.
Work on these issues is being taken forward through my health inequalities and other strategies and our recovery missions. We’re working to create healthier environments in the most disadvantaged areas, with a commitment that by 2024 children and young people will find it easier to eat healthy food and be more active where they live, learn, shop, work and play.
My ground-breaking policy to introduce advertising restrictions on the TfL estate has been associated with an estimated 95,000 fewer cases of obesity – that’s almost 5 per cent fewer people with obesity within the first year the policy was implemented.
As a global city London is keen to look across the world to share best practice, learn from other countries and build an evidence base for action. London is a member of the Partnership for Healthy Cities, a global network of cities that are committed to preventing noncommunicable diseases, including obesity.
Next March I will be co-hosting a Partnership for Healthy Cities summit for Mayors and participants from over 60 cities to meet and learn from each other.
I have also convened a new Mayoral Advisory Group to advise on child healthy weight. The experts on this group will share learning on tackling obesity that will inform our future work.

LFB Recruitment

Susan Hall: Do you think that LFB goes far enough to promote a healthy working environment, particularly for female, BAME and disabled recruits? If not, what can you do to assist them with making this better?

The Mayor: London Fire Brigade (LFB) recognises that more work needs to be done to ensure that all staff have a healthy working environment, in terms of their physical, mental and psychological safety, particularly those from underrepresented groups and our new recruits. This is shown in LFB data and feedback from staff and is why the London Fire Commissioner decided to commission a full independent review of culture, chaired by Nazir Afzal, which will be published this month.
There is a plan in place for LFB to improve the working lives of all staff, particularly female, BAME and disabled recruits. That includes workshops rolled out to all watches where new trainees have arrived, the allocation of buddies to trainees (particularly beneficial to those from underrepresented groups) and educating firefighters and their managers on how to support their trainees in terms of their learning and wellbeing. The independent review of culture will give a clear indication on further work required.

Emergency Planning & Resilience (2)

Susan Hall: When was the London emergency plan last updated? Specifically with relation to responding to a major terror incident.

The Mayor: London has multiple emergency plans, a number of which would be used in the response to a terror attack. Each plan is reviewed periodically, typically every three years.
The overarching Strategic Coordination Protocol (SCP), which describes how agencies will respond together to any form of emergency, was last fully reviewed in 2020. Its principles remain sound and learning from all incidents, exercises and inquiries will be used to inform its next review in 2023.

Emergency Planning & Resilience (1)

Susan Hall: Following the announcement from the Government that there will be a review of CONTEST, how will you and the LFB work with the Government to ensure that the emergency planning for London terror threats is also reviewed?

The Mayor: We will ensure that all relevant London partners have an opportunity to contribute to the review of CONTEST.
There is already significant activity across London in relation to all four strands of CONTEST, including the establishment of the Counter Terrorism Operations Centre in June 2021. LFB and all emergency services are actively engaged in the development of Joint Operating Procedures and specific planning under the leadership of the Metropolitan Police Contest Board and Marauding Terror Attack Preparedness Board.
Action is underway to take account of the findings of the recently published Manchester Arena Inquiry recommendations.
Changes arising from the CONTEST review will be incorporated into the periodic review of relevant emergency plans and form part of the training and exercising approach.

MPS injuries policing Just Stop Oil protests

Caroline Russell: How many, if any, Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers were injured during the month of October 2022 policing protests by Just Stop Oil? Could you provide the nature of any injuries broken down by date and incident type, incident severity, injured part, and injury type?

The Mayor: There have been no reported assaults or injuries on Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) police officers or staff relating to the policing of Just Stop Oil protests during the month of October 2022.

Unsolved complaints

Susan Hall: For each year Nov 2016 to Oct 2017, Nov 2017 to Oct 2018, Nov 2018 to Oct 2019, Nov 2019 to Oct 2020, Nov 2020 to Oct 2021 and Nov 2021 to Oct 2022, how many police officers transferred to the Met with unresolved complaints?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has advised that it does not accept transferees with unresolved complaints.

Pakistan Floods and COP 27

Sakina Sheikh: What impact will the recent floods in Pakistan have on discussions at COP 27 and will it alter London’s and the UK’s direction?

The Mayor: It is abundantly clear that the impacts of climate change are accelerating and that they are not being felt equally. The tragic flooding events in Pakistan is one of the latest examples of that acceleration. The UN Secretary General António Guterres has warned governments that ‘The window to take urgent climate action is closing rapidly. Unless countries dramatically scale up their efforts to counter theclimate crisis, the world faces a global catastrophe’.
I have already taken the decision to bring forward London’s own net zero target by twenty years to 2030. We simply cannot afford to wait and I am doing everything in my powers to reduce London’s carbon emissions.
But to deliver London’s target requires greater commitment, effective national policy and long term funding from Government. The UK, along with other nations must show the same commitment as many non-state actors to drive down emissions quicker. They must also support the global south in both mitigating and adapting to climate change. Failing to do so will prevent progress being made quickly enough.

Police Staff (1)

Unmesh Desai: How many Police staff have been recruited in the past three years?

The Mayor: This data is published by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) in the Workforce Data Report: Workforce data report | Metropolitan Police (Table 8).

Police Staff (2)

Unmesh Desai: What is the percentage of Police staff that have left the MPS in the past three years?

The Mayor: Police staff attrition is included within the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) monthly Workforce Report Workforce data report | Metropolitan Police (Table 9.2)

UK Football Policing Unit

Unmesh Desai: Does the MPS contribute resources, in the form of Police officer time or funding, to the UK Football Policing Unit? If so, can I have a breakdown of the resources provided.

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) does not contribute any resources or funding to the UK Football Policing Unit.

Working Time Directive

Susan Hall: For each year Nov 2019 to Oct 2020, Nov 2020 to Oct 2021 and Nov 2021 to Oct 2022 how many Met police officers and staff broke Working Time Directive rules?

The Mayor: Working Time Regulation (WTR) non-compliance is based on the number of officers (who have not opted out of the regulations) working more than 48 hours, averaged over a 17 week reference period.
Police staff WTR compliance is monitored under local management arrangements and is not available centrally as a performance report.
Working time risks are reviewed at the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Health, Safety and Wellbeing Board which focuses on compliance, operational impact and the implementation of interventions to mitigate risk.
WTR non-compliance for Police officers*
* The data includes Royal and Specialist Protection (RASP) and Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection (PaDP), who have a 26 week reference period.

BCU vacancy rate

Susan Hall: What is the vacancy rate for each BCU?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has advised that all Basic Command Units (BCUs) are currently over strength in terms of overall police officer numbers.
This is a deliberate decision to provide resilience whilst newly recruited officers are gaining experience.

City Hall - blood donation location

Susan Hall: Would you support the GLA having discussions with NHS Blood & Transplant with regard to City Hall being offered as a blood donation location; given its location in an under-served part of London, and the need to encourage more donations from a wider spread of London's diverse population?

The Mayor: I agree about the importance of encouraging blood donation across London - and particularly from diverse populations, especially in the critical time ahead of winter demands. There is an urgent need for O negative and O positive blood types to help treat people with conditions such as sickle cell, which disproportionately impacts people from Black African and Black Caribbean backgrounds.
I’m a blood donor, and this year I’ve already supported NHS Blood and Transplant’s (NHSBT) LonDONOR campaign to boost donations across the capital. In addition, when NHSBT issued the blood stocks Amber Alert in October, my Health Team mobilised staff at City Hall and spread the message across the GLA Group, while I reached out on my channels to donors across London, to encourage them to keep their donation appointments or schedule a new one.
I know that NHSBT continues to need new donors in London, and I want City Hall to have a positive influence – not just on the surrounding community, but across all of London. I’m currently in discussions with the organisation to see how else we can support donation efforts, including looking at how we can use our buildings.

Safer Neighbourhood Teams

Susan Hall: What is the vacancy rate for each Safer Neighbourhood Team?

The Mayor: Information on the strength of Dedicated Ward Officers (DWOs) and Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) is provided in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) monthly Workforce Data reports Workforce data report | Metropolitan Police (Table 13).

Gambling in London (2)

Emma Best: Can you please tell me how many betting shops there are in London today compared to 2016?

The Mayor: The GLA does not hold this data.
Data from the Gambling Commission register from Nov 2022 indicated that there are 812 betting shops registered in London as of November 2022. This register collates data supplied by Local Authorities in London.
Data from previous years is not available for comparison but the trend nationally has been that betting shop numbers have declined in recent years.
The 2022 update from the Gambling Commission indicates that there were 6,462 betting shops in Great Britain between April 2020 to March 2021 which represented a 15.9% decrease from the previous year

Gambling in London (3)

Emma Best: Do you believe that TfL should still have gambling advertisements on buses and in trains?

The Mayor: Gambling addiction can have a significant impact on the lives of individuals and their families, but the evidence base on the relationship between gambling advertising and gambling harms in the out of home environment, such as on buses and trains, is limited.
As part of my commitment to bring forward plans to ban harmful gambling advertisements on the TfL network, I have commissioned the University of Sheffield and University of Glasgow to produce independent evidence briefing. This work will summarise the research evidence on the health and health inequalities impacts of gambling advertising and will be published as a journal article in the coming months.
In the meantime, I continue to work closely with London Local Authority colleagues in building the evidence base so that we can better understand gambling harms and how to address them across London, working in partnership.

Pan-London sustainable food campaign (2)

Emma Best: The Pan-London sustainable food campaign appears to be based on using “inspiring messages and practical advice to build on successful past campaigns”. Rather than another campaign that will not help Londoners should you not instead spend the money on helping ease food poverty?

The Mayor: Helping Londoners through the cost-of-living crisis is a priority for me. My online Cost-of-Living Hub highlights help available, and I am introducing a range of measures to aid communities. I have invested in supporting Londoners suffering from food insecurity. By working with the environmental charity Hubbub on Food Connect over 104 tonnes of food, equivalent to 244,000 meals, has been redistributed in six months. My support for Felix’s Kitchen has provided vulnerable Londoners with 300,000 meals, redistributing 163 tonnes of food.
My Food Flagship Initiative, is delivering a programme of interventions to reduce London’s food waste. The pan-London sustainable food campaign is one element and will go live from January 2023, running until the end of March 2024, with evaluation and reporting in spring 2024. It builds upon successful campaigns like TriFOCAL, which reduced household food waste by 9%, equivalent to 160,000 tonnes, saving Londoners £12.5 million across two years.

The Greater London Forum for Older People

Tony Devenish: I would recommend that you read the latest version of ‘Senior London’ a publication by The Greater London Forum for Older People. Can you please outline whether you think you are doing enough to help older Londoners?

The Mayor: Hearing the views and concerns of older Londoners is important to me. The Greater London Forum for Older People’s (GLF) newsletter ‘Senior London’ is one of the means that my officers and I do this. I am delighted that the chair of GLF sits on my Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group.
I am committed to helping older Londoners and to tackling the inequalities they face. As well as the support provided through my cost of living programme, I am working to support older Londoners to claim their entitlements, such as Pension Credit, so that they are not struggling to get by on less than they need to.
To help older Londoners stay well this winter, my warmer Homes Advice Service is providing advice on heating homes and dealing with energy or water debt and my Warmer Homes programme is providing free heating, insulation and ventilation improvements. I am also urging people to get their Covid and flu jabs.

Gambling in London (1)

Emma Best: Do you know how many Londoners there are addicted to gambling both online and in betting shops?

The Mayor: There is no data available on how many Londoners are addicted to gambling online or in betting shops.
However in 2021, Public Health England published a gambling related harms evidence review which found London had lower than average gambling participation levels, compared to other regions.
The review also estimated that the proportion of people experiencing gambling problems in the London population- a term used to describe someone who gambles with negative consequences and a possible loss of control – was 1.2%.

Pan-London sustainable food campaign (1)

Emma Best: Assistant Director's decision ADD2603/ Pan-London sustainable food campaign gives £30,000 of tax payer money to simply create a brief for a marketing campaign rather than the campaign itself. Do you not believe this money could be better spent helping Londoners during this cost of living crisis?

The Mayor: Supporting Londoners during the cost-of-living crisis is a priority for me. 1.4 million tonnes of food (equivalent to an estimated 3.5 million meals) is wasted in London each year with 64% coming from households. This campaign, which will run until March 2024, will support Londoners to reduce the amount of household food wasted and reduce their costs, while living healthily.
The GLA is contributing £30,000 to the campaign, which is also being supported by councils and waste disposal authorities from across 23 London boroughs, as well as ReLondon (a statutory body of the Mayor of London and London’s Boroughs) and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. The funding will support the design, research, creative development, media spend and campaign evaluation. The budget will be supplemented further, where possible, through private sector partnerships.
I am also supporting those impacted by the current crisis through my Cost-of-Living hub, and my work to redistribute edible food waste to those living with food insecurity.

Bottle recycling schemes

Leonie Cooper: Can you update me on what the progress is on getting bottle recycling schemes up and running in London?

The Mayor: All London boroughs collect plastic bottles for recycling as part of their kerbside collection systems, and 32 currently collect glass bottles. This will, increase to all 33 boroughs by summer 2023.
I am currently waiting for statutory guidance to be published by government to confirm how a national Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will operate, and when this will be introduced. I welcome the introduction of a well-designed DRS, fully aligned and synchronised with more consistent recycling services and a greater role for producer responsibility.
Through the 2023 to 2025 Reduction and Recycling Plan (RRP) drafting and review process, I am engaging with boroughs on the issues they face with the introduction a national DRS scheme.

Hygiene banks

Leonie Cooper: Can you update me on the work you are doing to help hygiene banks deal with the soaring demand due to the cost-of-living crisis?

The Mayor: It’s a scandal that in this day and age Londoners are forced to rely on handouts to secure the basic products they need to stay clean and healthy. The underlying driver of all forms of poverty and destitution is being on a low-income. That’s why I’m determined to do all I can to help Londoners maximise their incomes and reduce their outgoings, decreasing the reliance on crisis support like food banks, baby banks, or hygiene banks.
For example, my Cost of Living Hub provides information on a wide range of benefits and bill reductions, and I’m investing £5million in advice services which help Londoners realise their financial entitlements. I’m also helping to lower energy bills through my Warmer Homes programme and I continue to encourage employers to pay at least the London Living Wage.
But Government must step up. Only they have the levers to truly protect all Londoners from destitution and ensure their incomes are sufficient to afford the basic cost of living and housing and live with dignity.

New Police Officers

Caroline Pidgeon: Please provide a breakdown of new police officers for the last 12 months by borough.

The Mayor: Police officers are allocated to a Basic Command Unit (BCU) which are comprised of two or more boroughs.
The number of officers in each BCU is provided in the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) monthly Workforce Data report (Workforce data report | Metropolitan Police) (Table 2.1).
This data is available in each of the reports from the last 12 months.